1. Field of the Invention
A device for protecting a selected area of a building's exterior or interior surface from becoming covered with an undesirable coating material is disclosed. More particularly, the present invention relates to an adjustable protection shield device having a novel construction including an adjustable blade holder for accepting and reversibly securing a protection blade. The adjustable blade holder has a first hinge component comprising a generally flattened blade anchoring member and a first hinge mate member. A second hinge component comprising a handle/extension handle attachment member and a second hinge mate member is adjustably connected to the first hinge component via a hinge fastening means that secures mated non-slip surfaces on the first and second hinge mate members.
2. Description of the Background Art
During the application of paint, sealant, texturizing compound, or similar materials by standard techniques to construction surfaces (such as walls, ceilings, and equivalent areas), non-designated regions or areas need to be protected from overspray, splatters, or like contamination. Traditional methods of protecting a building's exterior or interior surfaces from undesired coating materials were taping or laying sheets of paper, cloth, or plastic to a particular area not to be coated or using a rigid, non-adjustable protection shield that would be slid to a required position. For a user, like a homeowner or do-it-yourself person, who occasionally applies coatings to a building these traditional techniques are time-consuming, but possibly tolerable, given the lack of suitable protection substitutes. However, for professional painters and similar artisans these time consuming protection techniques were not cost effective.
Rigid, non-adjustable type protection shields are quicker to employ than the taping or laying procedures, but depending upon the area to be protected the craftsman had only a limited number of shield versions from which to select (primarily a flat model or a fixed angle type) and depending upon the structure's surface requirements (such as straight or angled wall to wall, wall to ceiling, or similar surface joining features) time would be needed to put down one shield version and take up another. Further, for a shield to be useful (to prevent overspray, seepage, or like contamination of undesired coating materials onto the protected surface) its protecting edge or edges must be maintained in a non-damaged condition. Therefore, if damage occurs to the blade edge of a non-interchangeable protection device the entire device would be discarded. The subject invention overcomes these problems and others, obvious to one skilled in the relevant art, by providing an adjustable protection device that; the user may readily position to any desired angle, has interchangeable blades, and is adapted for direct use with an incorporated handle or by use with an extension handle.